9th OIFC Market Place Forum set for a confluence of ideas, investments, opportunities & partnerships

Smt. Sushma Swaraj to inaugurate the Forum and bring together the Overseas Indian community with Indian policy makers and businesses

As Gandhinagar gears up for the world’s largest annual gathering of Pravasi Bharatiyas and to commemorate the centenary of the iconic Pravasi, Mahatma Gandhi’s return from South Africa, the Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC) – the Economic Engagement arm for the diaspora of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs is setting the stage for its 9th annual interactive “Market Place Forum” from January 7 – 13, 2015 during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) and Vibrant Gujarat. OIFC is a public private partnership between the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) formed to facilitate the economic and intellectual engagement of the Indian Diaspora with India.

The OIFC “Market Place Forum”, a premier business-networking platform for PBD delegates would be inaugurated by Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Hon’ble Minister of External Affairs, Overseas Indian Affairs at the PBD Exhibition Area.

The same surging revivalist fervor and renewed faith in India’s growth story among over 21 million Overseas Indians spread across 200 nations that characterized the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India’s recent foreign visits, will be mirrored at the three-day conclave in Gujarat’s capital city.

Elaborating on the bouquet of services offered in the “Market Place Forum”, Ms. Charu Mathur, CEO, OIFC said “Large sections of Indian diaspora are now looking at the new resurgent India with renewed faith and are keenly evaluating opportunities of economic engagement. Continuing with our endeavor to generate a greater momentum towards a deeper, strengthened and diverse partnership with the diaspora for the ninth consecutive year, OIFC Market Place Forum this time has pre scheduled over 600 B2B meetings that will see delegates engaging to explore business opportunities in India. This renewed faith in India’s growth story among the visiting delegates could be attributed to the same positive sentiment that echoed the Honorable Prime Minister’s recent foreign visits.”

She also added, “OIFC is uniquely positioned to channelize the positive sentiment and connect the Indian Diaspora with the vibrant revitalized investment destination – India. We are confident of leveraging the platform of PBD to network with key Non Resident Indian and Persons of Indian Origin communicate the promising initiatives of the new government and thereby generate a greater momentum towards a deeper, strengthened and diverse partnership with the diaspora. OIFC will be signing MoUs with various business associations for strengthen connection with the Indian diaspora. In 2014, after our diaspora Engagement Meets in Bahrain and London, we have received multiple queries from the Indian diaspora on sectors Clean Energy, Education, Healthcare and Infrastructure and Real Estate.”

Through its “Market Place Forum”, OIFC would focus on drawing the attention of the Indian Diaspora on the six flagship programmes highlighted by the new government – Digital India, Make in India, Namami Gange, Swachh Bharat Mission and skills development initiatives. The Organisation will be releasing two publications during the PBD 2015:

1. Spinning India’s Success – Growth on wheels: This publication brought out in association with Deloitte, proposes to send a message to overseas investors especially the diaspora that India is going through an evolution phase aimed at encouraging growth, ease of doing business, harnessing talent and improving the quality of living for all strata of population, thereby encouraging them to come to India and be a part of the New India and confirm what the Hon’ble PM says “Achche Din Aane Wale Hain”.

2. The Overseas Indian & India: Weaving a new global fabric: This publication assesses success stories of overseas Indians have economically engaging with the country to the benefit of both themselves and the nation. It also tries to see if there exists a framework for accelerating and institutionalizing the process so that linkages of Overseas becomes a true web and fabric of global entrepreneurship.

The three-day Forum will serve as a platform for a series of pre-scheduled appointments for one-to-one business meetings along with numerous networking opportunities and exchange of ideas. Subject matter experts will assist delegates with their queries related to a wide variety of issues ranging from opportunities in setting up businesses in India to NRI Banking. Overseas Indians constitute one of the largest pool of entrepreneurial talent and OIFC Knowledge Partners will discuss several aspects of setting up business in India – Government initiatives & schemes, legal commercial & taxation issues, regulatory environment etc.